Dear Chris,
I am writing to alert you to efforts underway this morning to zero out a large portion of the science funding from the Senate American Reinvestment and Recovery Act as a part of a $77.9B reduction effort led by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME).
As you know better than most, science and technology are responsible for half of the economic development of the United States since WWII and yet, if current trends hold, some, such as the Business Roundtable, have predicted that 90% of all scientists and engineers will live in Asia within 5 years.
The United States simply MUST renew our investment in the single greatest economic engine this country has ever known. Small federal investments in scientific research have helped produce things like the internet and the transistor that have consistently delivered multi-trillion dollar economies.
The United States is at a critical juncture, and if this concerns you we suggest now would be a time to contact your Senators and urge them to support science funding. Here is what is being proposed to be cut from the bill, according to TPM:
NASA exploration $750,000,000 = 50%
NSF $1,402,000,000 = 100%
NOAA $427,000,000 = 34.94%
NIST $218,000,000 = 37.91%
DOE energy efficiency & renewable energy $1,000,000,000 = 38%
DOE office of science $100,000,000 = 100%
Collins-Nelson Group Staff Paper Potential Cuts -- $77.9 Billion
02-05-2009
1. WHAT TO DO: call and email your two U.S. senators. Contact from a constituent on a wonky issue like this will have enormous influence. Calling is better than email, but do both if you can.
Go here to find your Senator, and select your state in the drop down box in the upper right hand corner:
http://www.senate.gov/
Tell them in your own words to reject the reduction
effort in the stimulus bill led by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) when it comes to science.
Note that most Senator's web pages contain a form (e.g. - CONTACT ME) that you can fill out to contact the Senator. Also, use your own words since identical
messages get rejected by the Senators' staff. You can adapt language from my previous email or from below, but be sure to personalize it.
2. TALKING POINTS:
A) Science & technology have produced half of the economic growth of the United States since WWII.
B) Spending on basic research is the single greatest economic engine this country has ever known.
C) Funding to federal granting agencies is about as "shovel-ready" a stimulus as you can get. If the granting agencies lower their score thresholds for awards across the board the money will be flowing within months, leading to rapid hiring and increased purchasing from technical service and supply companies that are largely American, and creating thousands of the kinds of high-quality jobs the country needs.
Father 'suicidal' after girl thrown from bridge
Posted Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:19pm AEDT
Updated Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:48pm AEDT
The father of a four-year-old Melbourne girl thrown from a bridge this morning was suffering from acute psychiatric distress and was suicidal, a court has been told.
It is alleged the 35-year-old Hawthorn man threw the girl off the Westgate Bridge in Melbourne this morning and he has been charged with her murder.
Police say witnesses reported seeing a man stop his white Landcruiser near the top of the bridge and throw the child over the side about 9:00am AEDT.
About 10 minutes later, water police pulled the girl from the Yarra River near the Scienceworks Technology Museum, close to the Spotswood pumping station.
Paramedics then spent 45 minutes trying to revive her on the riverbank. She was flown to the Royal Children's Hospital, where she later died.
The man did not appear in the dock of the Melbourne Magistrates Court and the court heard he was suicidal and suffering from acute psychiatric distress.
He was remanded in custody to reappear in court in May.
'You just shudder'
Police say when the man was arrested he was with two other children, aged six and eight, and was visibly distressed.
Detective Inspector Steve Clark says the mother of the dead girl has been informed.
"It's a dreadful set of circumstances, and often you think you've seen it all but you haven't," Detective Inspector Clark said.
"It's particularly distressing obviously for family members but for the witnesses who saw what occurred, a number of those people are upset and I've got a number of police here who have young children themselves, who have had to deal with it."
Police want witnesses to the incident to contact them.
Victorian Premier John Brumby says the incident is a terrible tragedy.
"It's such a horrible thing to happen to the child," he said.
"As a father I think, what are the circumstances that could possibly bring this about? I just shuddered when I heard about it ... you just shudder, you just think, how can that happen?"
Police found notes inside the house in which the gunman referred to "job and work-related issues," police said
By Andrew Blankstein, Richard Winton and Ruben Vives, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
10:09 AM PST, January 27, 2009
Five children under age 10 and their mother were fatally shot inside a Wilmington home this morning, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Police said that the assailant appeared to be the children's father and that he apparently committed suicide after calling a news media outlet. The organization, which was not immediately named, then contacted authorities, police said.
The LAPD was dispatched to the 1000 block of McFarland Avenue at 8:22 a.m. Officer Sam Park said the man apparently committed suicide.
"He called 911 and said his family was dead inside," Park said. "We responded. We have multiple victims inside of the house, and at this point we don't know how many."
Police said the children were an 8-year-old girl, a set of 5-year-old girl twins and a set of 2-year-old boy twins. Deputy Chief Kenneth Garner said police found notes inside the house in which gunman referred to "job and work-related issues."
"This was a financial and job related issue that led to the slayings," Garner said. "I these tough economic times, there are other options. In my 32 years, I've never seen anything like this."
The bodies were found around the house and were shot with a revolver.
LOUDON - A mother accused of neglecting her dying daughter by turning to prayer instead of medicine took to the witness stand Monday clutching her defense in her hands.
"I decided to turn to Jesus Christ, my lord and savior, for her healing, believing in this word," Jacqueline Crank testified as she held up the Bible she brought with her to Loudon County Criminal Court.
She expects to carry that same Bible all the way to the state Supreme Court, where nearly everyone involved in this landmark Tennessee case of prayer versus medicine agrees it will wind up.
Crank and her two children, including 15-year-old Jessica Crank, were living communal style with Jessica's self-professed "spiritual father," Ariel Ben Sherman, and other members of a branch of the Universal Life Church in Loudon in May 2002 when Crank took her daughter to a clinic because the girl had a large tumor on her shoulder.
Clinic personnel advised Crank to take her daughter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center. She didn't. Jessica later died from a rare form of bone cancer known as Ewing sarcoma.
Crank and Sherman wound up charged. Much legal wrangling followed. The case now has been whittled down to its core issue: Is Tennessee's law allowing parents to put their faith - and their children's health - in God's hands too vague to be valid?
Defense attorney Gregory P. Isaacs and Sherman's attorneys, Donald A. Bosch and Ann Short-Bowers, contend the law is silent on when a parent relying on faith can be held criminally responsible for that decision.
"Our state does not delineate whether you can try to heal your child of the common cold through prayer alone but you cannot try to heal your child of Ewing sarcoma through prayer," Isaacs argued.
Assistant District Attorney General Frank Harvey tried to steer the argument toward wording in the law that allows parents to follow the tenets of a "recognized" church headed by a "duly accredited practitioner."
Harvey contends Sherman is not a minister but a cult leader, an allegation Sherman has faced for decades in a host of states where he has set up house with followers but has steadfastly denied.
"The religion in question is Christianity," Bosch countered.
Isaacs echoed that argument with a reference to Christ and his disciples.
"I wonder if 12 people having supper with someone they consider to be the messiah who were not part of the establishment, the Sanhedrin, would that be considered a cult?" he said.
Judge Eugene Eblen declined Monday to dismiss the charges but is allowing an emergency appeal to the state Court of Criminal Appeals. In his view, it will take a decision from the state's highest court to determine whether Crank and Sherman can be tried under Tennessee law.
The pair now live in South Carolina with Crank's teenage son and at least four of Sherman's parishioners.
Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308.
© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
"Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion."
Leviticus 20:13
"If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."
1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,It doesn't mention gays specifically, but it lists off a lot of other people - which are
6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Mark 15:27So can thieves get into heaven? No one knows for sure.
And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left.
Luke 23:32-43
And there were also two other, malefactors , led with him to be put to death.
.....
And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
President Bush tells interviewers he does not care how history will portray him. But in our third story tonight, the Los Angeles Times has obtained an internal White House memo giving cabinet members talking points for painting history a rosy portrait of Mr. Bush even though his image will only get worse, as new, damning facts emerge. What does the memo say? And how are we obliged to correct its bizarre claims?
To start, it says Mr. Bush, quote, "...promised to raise standards and accountability in public schools -- and delivered the No Child Left Behind Act," an act so poorly received, that the Times points out it became a standard applause line this year... for Democrats.
Also from the memo: he curbed AIDS in Africa. Its spread has slowed, and Mr. Bush has won praise for this but he has not won any praise for withholding funds from groups that promote condom use, a proven life-saver in favor of abstinence-only programs, which have also failed in this country. Also, Mr. Bush's foreign-aid puritan, Randall Tobias quit last year after patronizing an escort service linked to prostitution.
Also from the memo: Mr. Bush lifted the economy with his tax cuts and, quote, "responded with bold measures to prevent an economic meltdown." In 2005, Mr. Bush told a 57-year-old single mother of three, one of them mentally challenged, that it was "fantastic", "uniquely American" that she had to work three jobs unlike half a million people who have no job as of November... in the first presidency for decades during which family earning power fell, and income disparity continued to rise. The "meltdown" he "prevented" now having claimed several Wall Street institutions which had weathered 1929, and 9/11... but not 43.
And, of course, the old standby, quote, he "kept the American people safe"...Not counting twenty percent of his first term, January 20th, 2001, until September 11th, 2001. On 9/11, he sat reading "My Pet Goat" for seven minutes after learning America was under attack. Then covered up environmental dangers at Ground Zero, and failed to provide for the health of rescue workers. Helped bin Laden's family flee the country. Opposed the 9/11 Commission, the Department of Homeland Security. Tried to outsource America's port security to Dubai. Did not keep us safe from the shoe-bomber... alert passengers and crew did that...Did not keep five Americans safe from anthrax... and never caught their killer. Still hasn't caught the killer of 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole. Still hasn't caught the killer of 3,000 on 9/11... outsourcing that to Afghans... turning that country into a narco-state, giving bin Laden a safe haven in the region of Waziristan by literally endorsing a truce that Pakistan signed with the Taliban there. And most of all, not keeping safe 4,200 Americans dead in his war, a war that made us less safe, invading a country that posed no grave or gathering threat, provided a check on Iran... then igniting insurrection by disbanding the Baathist Party, creating a Muslim theocracy purged of its moderate intelligentsia. One in which freedom has marched backward for women. And Lebanon, too, elected a Muslim theocracy... run by Hamas, no less. Keeping us safe? Terrorism is rising worldwide. The still-thriving enemy has claimed Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto... And thousands of people in India... including 200 in Mumbai last month. Russia can now invade U-S allies without fear of retribution. And Mr. Bush failed to prevent Kim Jong Il from joining the ranks of nuclear powers. Despite even more ample warning than he received prior to 9/11, he lifted not a finger to keep a major American city safe from wind and water.
And what, finally, of the claim in the talking points... that Mr. Bush has always upheld, quote, "the honor and the dignity of his office"? You must define dignity downward to find it in a lie. The lie of "Mission Accomplished." Of upholding the Constitution... or protecting habeas corpus. That we do not eavesdrop without warrants... do not eavesdrop on Americans. The lie that we do not torture. That we do not play politics with justice... that we do not use the wheels of justice... to crush dissent. That we do not betray those who serve us in secret. That we uphold, rather than commute, the penalties for those who do. That we do not stage fake news conferences, do not censor science... do not plant propaganda in Iraqi newspapers... nor pay US columnists to write it in American newspapers. Or push respected Americans to vaporize their honor and dignity with lies to the world. Or lie about the causes of the credit crisis, high gas prices, or even that he watched the first plane hit the North Tower on TV. Where is the honor in vowing a crusade? Of daring those who would kill American troops to "bring it on?" Of promising to care for the troops after you put them in harm's way, without body armor or up-armored vehicles? Where was the honor, the dignity in giving a dead soldier's mother a presidential coin and telling her "don't sell it on eBay."?
His memo, revealing yet another lie.
He does care how history will portray him.
And now... he knows.
(my comments interlaced in italics. language warning)
Read this before you vote
America's future and the future of our children are at stake
You betcha!
November 3, 2008
Dear Chris,
The election of senators and representatives is very important. If the liberals win enough seats to kill a filibuster in the Senate, then there will be no stopping the damage they can do in just two years. Do we want that much power in the hands of liberals?
Oh hell yes! It would be more so undoing the damage of the last eight years of Bush though. America has had enough.
Activist justices who will be appointed to the Supreme Court for 20 to 40 years can make any law they wish, or override any law they wish.
Unfounded malarkey. As opposed to the activist judges installed by the right wing fueled by evangelical asshatery to reverse Roe V. Wade? And I call bullshit on the "they can make any law they wish" statement. No they can't And no they wont. This is just fear mongering at its worst.
The liberals are already planning to remove every law prohibiting abortion, make homosexual marriage legal, and take away our religious and First Amendment freedoms.
Not that that would be a good thing?
A veto-proof Senate would guarantee that every bill the liberals want to pass, they can. In two short years, the liberals can undo every law that it has taken conservatives 40 years to accomplish.
Said as if they are going to undo every law. How about lets just undo the disaster that was Bush and his congressional majority from 2002-2006? I have tried to make this a family safe blog but this pisses me off. Fuck these assholes! They have been in charge for eight years and the country is currently fucked in case you haven't noticed! Its time to fire the liars. Remember this? Oh Being a Christian is so holier than thou. Spare me the bullshit! 96,000 Iraqis DEAD and 4,190 US troops DEAD for a FUCKING LIE! You can bitch all you want about the bailout (which I oppose and disagree with Obama on) but $2,760,000,000,000.00 is an awful lot to pay for a made up war.
When you vote for a senator, be sure that you keep this in mind! The election of one conservative senator could make the difference!
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
Damn right! Lets fire these bastards!
Election Day is tomorrow -- Tuesday, November 4th.
Right now, I'm asking you to do one last thing -- vote tomorrow, and make sure everyone you know votes, too.
When this campaign began, we weren't given much of a chance by the pollsters or the pundits.
But tomorrow, we can make history.
Watch the video, find your polling location, and get everyone you know involved on Election Day:
http://my.barackobama.com/nov4
With your vote, and the votes of your friends, family, and neighbors, we won't just win this election -- together, we will change this country and change the world.
Thank you,
Barack
In a last ditch effort they are bringing up as many "Obama Links" as possible. Rev. Wright keeps coming up. Rev. Wright pales in insignificance to the Pastors of John McCain and Sarah Palin.
While digging up the vimeo video in the last post from my gmail, I notice that Bruce Wilson had a series of new videos. This one needs to be broadcast far and wide.
And so it continues:
In Richard Dawkin's book "The God Delusion", I was reading (well listening - I have it on audible) of an inspiring quote from one the conservative movement's founding father. Barry Goldwater.
I am sick and tired of people today saying we are a Christian nation. If Obama is an atheist it should not matter. It shouldn't have to be political suicide to come out as an atheist It shouldn't be a smear as evidenced in the Elizabeth Dole special bag of dirty tricks.
Many of the rabid right wing try to emulate Goldwater.
They continue to excavate the poor tired bones of Ronald Reagan. The Republican party has been hijacked by the religious radicals.
With that I bring you the quote of the day.
However, on religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.
I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A, B, C, and D. Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of conservatism.
Senator Barry Goldwater
Congressional Record, September 16, 1981
So what do we get in they year 2008? Sarah Palin and her "Be gone ye witchcraft" whackos.
You get people banging on five gallon water bottles who are horny for the end of the world and the "rapture".
Reflect on this, and then vote your conscience. I will never stop saying it because I love my country - a country that was founded in secularism and freedom. Not theocratic bullies, fascism, and jingoism.
Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions.
Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch toward uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one-half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.
And placing greatest emphasis on this last one:
Because religious belief, or non-belief, is such an important part of every person's life, freedom of religion affects every individual. Religious institutions that use government power in support of themselves and force their views on persons of other faiths, or of no faith, undermine all our civil rights. Moreover, state support of an established religion tends to make the clergy unresponsive to their own people, and leads to corruption within religion itself. Erecting the "wall of separation between church and state," therefore, is absolutely essential in a free society.
We have solved, by fair experiment, the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government and obedience to the laws. And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason and the serious convictions of his own inquiries.
-All from Thomas Jefferson
The scaremongering flowing from the army is disgusting.
"Twitter has also become a social activism tool for socialists, human rights groups, communists, vegetarians, anarchists, religious communities, atheists, political enthusiasts, hacktivists and others to communicate with each other and to send messages to broader audiences,"
So... we should watch out for all of those... baddies? Can I just say WTF?
The underlying agenda here is more fearmongering. Oooh the baddies, the bad terrorists... Scaring poor old grandmas in Missouri. And they way they named off all of those labels as if they were villains.
If you can stand to listen to the voice of Sarah Palin for two minutes and 38 seconds, listen to another of her rabid right wing supporters shout out the words "He's a n*gger!"
Some people are too stupid for their own good. I'm sorry But I find this kind of behavior inexcusable. If they needed any more reason to have their asses handed to them on Nov 4th (9% of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction as helmed by George W. Bush), this should be it. The "He's an Arab", "He's a Muslim", "He was named after Saddam Hussein" flaming that has been going on is inexcusable.
Let's also not forget the "B-grade" actress Ashley Todd.
Who said she was attacked by one of those "big black guys".
The racism that is alive and well in all corners of this country is appalling. When I first ventured into the American south - and the deep south I could not believe what I was hearing. As it turns out this isn't just limited to the American south. Views of the confederate flag are one thing, but when you have redneck dumbasses questioning you if you are "one of those dirty Mexicans" or "one of those Eskimos" on a construction site* - you start to feel a little uncomfortable. Especially when this person hits you on the head with a pipe wrench (I had a hard hat on).
I can only hope (praying to an invisible man in the sky does no good, we already established that) that Barack Obama wins next week. I would love to see the look on all these racist fuckers' faces. I would fear for Obama's safety and I would hope that threats like what we have seen yesterday are nothing more than weak attempts by less intelligent persons of racist persuasion. (Yes these idiots were from Tennessee).
*I worked a very short job on a construction site in 2000 and - a few of my fellow employees couldn't place my race. Although I had "one of those Mexican's" surnames I spoke coherent English, they used some not very impressive logic that I wasn't Mexican (I actually am half Mexican) but had to be something else like Eskimo maybe because I still had my Alaska license plate on my car. They did deduce that I was not 100% whiteboy.
You've already seen it but it bears repeating. I HATED the old ad campaign of the wassup - it was annoying and stupid IMO. But here we have these guys who wanted to use their creativity (albeit -probably originally the advertising company's idea to start out with) and hopefully drive home an important message.
I have about had it UP TO HERE with the BS that is the American healthcare system. I actually do have health insurance which I pay a pretty penny for and it still isn't worth a shit. I am on the highest plan available through my work. And me and my employer pay out the ass for it too. There isn't enough time in the day for me to write a sufficient rant about this healthcare system that is confusing and -well lets just say bullshit. I would like to remind anyone who still says that this is the greatest country in the world (ask if they have ever been to another country for any length of time) about the awful tragedy that is our healthcare system. Its sad cause you read about poor people in the south not being able to see a doctor - people with no insurance - dying because they can't afford healthcare. These same poor people are being brainwashed by right wing hate speech that universal healthcare is socialism and communism and everything else all rolled into one. I am saying it right here, these right wing bigots like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are spreading this misinformation when they themselves are immune to the sting in the wallet that comes with medical bills. That fat bastard Rush is out driving a Maybach sucking down Oxycontin I am sure he doesn't care about some puny medical costs. Or Sean Hannity - Employed by FNC & ABC radio I am sure he really knows what little people like us are going through when we get billed $600 for a single visit.
Again, its the end of the day and I need to hit the road. I am just plenty pissed. In an already F'd up country this is just another weak leg in an already broken table.
I will come to the debates (which I have to get to still) later, but I wanted to make a post regarding this film I saw on Friday. First, the trailer:
Now being interviewed on the women's program "The View":
And his appearance on Larry King:
I believe to be a non-believer in America is an uphill battle. Even evidenced by this film. Look at the number of screens its being shown on versus all of the other top 10:
I have made it easier for you to see:
only 502 screens across the country.
I think the most important message in the film is, we don't need people in possession of the nuclear (yes that's nuclear not nucular) codes who want to expedite the "end times" and the second coming of Jesus.
Why does religion have to dominate our elected officials? Why - when this country was founded as a secular republic by our founding fathers - does someone need a "I'm a Christian" punch card? I have said it before and I will continue to say it. The founding fathers would be appalled. They wrote the constitution with language that was simple, and easy to understand. They mapped it all out in 1787 right there. They did NOT mention God or Jesus or this being a "Christian Nation" at all. They didn't say you have to be a Christian in order to be President. Let's have a read:
No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.
The only place it even so much as mentions religion is in the Bill of Rights - 1791
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Let's reiterate the relevant part:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion
Get it now? Its written in the constitution. I thought that the constitution still meant something. In an era where our rights are being stripped away from us, I guess they figure if they can tear one part of the constitution, they can tear another part. I have a problem with someone who is supposed to be representing me in government and gets his direction and guidance from talking voices in his head. There comes a time when the rational minority must stand up to the bullying. Bring this country back to how it was intended. This is NOT a Christian nation! With Bush the religious nuts who say we are a Christian nation came out of the woodwork.
You should recoil in horror when you see this type of garbage. I support the FFRF. They had got handed to them a religious smackdown after their billboard efforts were met with vitriol and an anti campaign.
%12 of Americans are rationalists. Think of that number for a while. 98% of scientists say evolution is a fact. I say there should be no more of this privileged status that religion holds. People always tend to shut their ears and play the hurt feelings card when you talk about religion. I do respect your right to practice your religion - as per the first amendment as outlined above. I am not obligated however, to respect your religion itself. In other words, you can have an imaginary friend, an invisible man in the sky who can simultaneously hear the murmurs of billions of people at the same time, and also act on them, but don't expect you should be immune to ridicule because your feelings are hurt. You leave it open to ridicule when you start talking about global floods, walking on water, raising the dead, and the talking snake. This should not be a taboo subject.
Credits: Rapture by Marc Nozell. Vote Responsibly by Jacob K. Creative Commons attribution 2.0
.
Keep Religion out of politics by FFRF.
From our friends at the AFA.
Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends.
Fed up with the extremely bias reporting on the presidential campaign by ABC, NBC and CBS? Do something about it!
Take The Viewers' Pledge! Our goal is one million pledges.
October 1, 2008
Dear Chris,
Are you tired of the extremely bias reporting by ABC, NBC and CBS? Do something about it! Tell the networks you are fed up with their attack on conservatives. Join other Americans who are tired of these networks promoting Barack Obama and attacking Sarah Palin. Take the pledge to not watch ABC, NBC or CBS until after the November elections! When the networks lose viewers, they also lose money. If viewers aren’t watching their promotion of Barack Obama and their trashing of Sarah Palin, they are losing money!
Send a message! We are sick and tired of your bias reporting, and we are not going to watch it anymore!
We will keep you informed on the progress of The Viewers’ Pledge.
Results will be given to ABC, NBC, and CBS.
The Viewers Pledge’ simply states, "I pledge not to watch any news programs on ABC, NBC and CBS until after the November elections."
Take the Pledge Now!
Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends.
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon,
Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
I am always laughing at anyone who thinks they can make an impact by boycotting (Bill O'Reilly's hilarious call to boycott France in 2002) without significant numbers. This AFA boycott will have little impact thankfully. Its not like those days of segregation in the south, where blacks boycotted the buses successfully. You know why? its cause they had numbers. Idiots who think they can hurt the French economy by not buying French wine or cheese (the same idiots who call French fries "freedom fries"), or turning off the TV (meaningless unless they are Nielsen metered homes) are living in a delusion.
So when a small band of fundamentalist Christians think they can move the needle on the big three you gotta laugh. I am reminded with each new email, why I signed my name to the AFA "alerts" - for some good morning entertainment. And also so I can be quick to debunk it when confronted with the "Obama is a Muslim" malarkey. (notice the grammar errors dotted throughout the email heh heh.)
I am a bit angry with this group because of the opening plea:
"Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your entire e-mail list of family and friends."
No we do not want any more bloody stupid email forwards thank you.
